Their bodies, with multiple bullet wounds, were found in a village in Manipur’s Tengnoupal district where the official said a “massive” gunfight was reported.
The state has witnessed sporadic violence since the peak of ethnic clashes that erupted on May 3 between members of the majority Meitei ethnic group and minority Kuki community over sharing government benefits and quotas.
The clashes have marked a rare security failure for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government in a state ruled by his Bharatiya Janata Party. No weapons were found near the bodies, the senior police official told Reuters by phone from state capital Imphal, requesting anonymity.
“It could be possible the weapons were looted after they were killed,” the official said, adding that they could not immediately identify the dead or the militant groups.Resentment between members of the Kuki tribe - who live in the hills, get economic benefits and quotas in government jobs and education - and the Meiteis - who control the more prosperous lowlands - spilled over as they clashed on May 3.
The violence was triggered after a court in February suggested that the special privileges granted to the Kukis, comprising 16% of the state’s population, be extended to the Meiteis, who are a majority in Manipur.
At least 118 people have been killed and more than 40,000 displaced in the violence. Several rounds of peace talks between the groups have broken down.
The federal government has asked the state’s chief minister to “work harder” and deployed additional security forces but it is concerned that the warring factions may be getting support from Myanmar.
India’s Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane and Myanmar’s junta leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing reaffirmed a commitment over the weekend that their territories would not be allowed for activities “inimical to the other,” the Indian government said.